Past the fall of the great Southern plantations and Agrarian prosperity, the Southern lady/gentleman persisted in the works of many
Southern writers who wrote novels lauding the Old South in an attempt to preserve the culture of the region. Contemporary Southern writers,
however, depict the South as it is. Novelists including Dorothy Allison, Barbara Kingsolver, and others reject the image of the Southern
belle, and instead depict Southern women, single mothers in particular, as resolute and strong-willed rather than demure and pious. My
research analyzes the characterization of single mothers in contemporary fiction by Southern women writers alongside the widows in two novels
by Augusta Evans Wilson, a popular late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century novelist. In examining the two side-by-side I was able to
compare the way in which these authors use characterization to reveal, and at times dispute with, the attitudes towards single mothers and
the ways these mothers challenge them.

Identifier:

FSU_migr_uhm-0510 (IID)

Keywords:

Southern literature, women's literature, single mothers

Submitted Note:

A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation
with Honors in the Major.